On communication and emotion

I caught a lovely interview on 60 minutes with an amazing 12 year old boy who was a savant. He could listen to a song and repeat it in the style of Mozart or other composers right away. He was composing his own music. I was blown away by him.

What was sad was this that his teacher was working on with him and other students was connecting emotion with their music. Crescendos, staccatos, Decrescendos, swells. One student was composing wonderful music for jazz trios, but couldn't think of a story of an emotional moment for her that she could connect with the music to put lyrics with it.
It was a little heartbreaking to me. The beauty of music isn't just found in the technique and execution, but in the honesty of emotion and cathartic experience that it can create for us.

It made me think also about how we communicate- through music and otherwise. While it's important to communicate meaning and truth, it's heartbreaking to communicate that meaning without the emotion that is with it. The excitement of Elizabeth Bennet receiving a second proposal is made even more consequential by the pain of her sister's elopment. The itensity of movements in a symphony enhanced by their contrast.

My husband used to tease me when I would change a radio station because the music didn't sound happy. He had a good point- sometimes, our art should communicate what just words and meanings cannot. Sometimes it should communicate the problem and not just the solution.

Anyway, teachers are wonderful, I hope the kids continue to connect music with their emotion and I hope that as I communicate I can honestly communicate truth and emotion. Thoughts?